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Knicks Again Combine Passing With Firepower

Jason Kidd kept the ball moving on offense but also penetrated the lane for layups. With the crowd in celebration mode, Rasheed Wallace executed a deft sweeping hook shot out of a post move, but he also found Pablo Prigioni cutting to the basketball for a layup less than a minute later. Carmelo Anthony flashed his isolation scoring ability when necessary but also participated in swift ball movement and dived into the stands after a loose ball.

“I saw where I was diving at,” Anthony said. “I kind of looked down before I even jumped out there.”

Backed by a solid defense against the undermanned Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday afternoon, the Knicks displayed a successful duality on offense as well, one-on-one firepower juxtaposed against patient passing in a 100-84 victory at Madison Square Garden. Success on both fronts and the resulting harmony have come surprisingly quickly for the Knicks, laden with veterans and new acquisitions.

Steve Novak said that point-guard-savvy play from Kidd, Prigioni and Raymond Felton, veterans all, has steered things in the right direction for a team that is 2-0 for the first time in 13 years.

“I think that trickles down,” Novak said. “Those guys are making decisions that the whole team trusts.”

Forward Kurt Thomas was beginning his fifth season in the N.B.A., and second with the Knicks, the last time the franchise started 2-0. He said he appreciated the Knicks’ ability to score in divergent ways.

“You definitely want that combination,” he said.

The Knicks have been starting two point guards in Felton and Kidd, and when Thomas was asked if Kidd was playing slightly out of position this year, Thomas slyly countered, “Is he?”

Thomas’s point was well taken. Kidd, oozing the guile of a floor general, fired an inbounds pass baseball style to J. R. Smith to put the Knicks ahead, 49-39, in the second quarter. Kidd stepped in front of Spencer Hawes for a steal, and in one motion flung a pass ahead to a streaking Anthony for a layup that gave the Knicks a 57-44 lead at the half.

Two spurts highlighted what could make the Knicks a tough matchup for opponents.

Anthony’s first-quarter dive into the seats livened up an otherwise subdued Sunday crowd, around the same time that the swift ball movement helped elevate the crowd’s energy. In giving the Knicks a 19-12 first-quarter lead, Tyson Chandler scored his only 2 points by tipping in a Ronnie Brewer putback attempt. The shot was made possible by a missed 3-point attempt by Kidd, who had the long-range look because of good ball movement. The three opportunities seemed like a reward for unselfish play. At certain points, the Knicks said, they even overpassed.

“Well, as a coach, I thought there were shots that guys should have taken, but, hey, I’m not complaining,” Coach Mike Woodson said.

Novak said: “On maybe five possessions tonight, it was like we passed it, passed it, passed it and we brought it all the way around.”

The Knicks also featured Anthony and Smith in their familiar roles as gunners. The two combined for 47 of the Knicks’ 100 points. Smith scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half, including three fourth-quarter 3-pointers in less than three minutes.

For the time being, Anthony remains the team’s scoring leader.

“Just trying to lead the pack in other ways than scoring,” he said. “I think when my teammates see me out there doing my thing, they feed off of that thing. They feed off of that energy. They feed off of that momentum.”